Car-scooter crash in Mesa leaves 1 dead

Aug 2, 2014 ~ 7:30AM The driver of a car was speeding and possibly impaired when she failed to stop at t red light, rear-ending a stopped motor scooter driver, killing him. The delay in the arrest was apparently due to the driver’s hospitalization. Julie Ann Gutierrez was arrested 8/19 on suspicion of manslaughter; and MSCO is awaiting blood test results that could bump up the charge to 2nd degree murder.

MCSO: Mesa woman hits scooter driver, kills him
Katie Bieri, The Republic | azcentral.com 8:43 p.m. MST August 19, 2014
Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 43-year-old Mesa woman who triggered a fatal collision with a scooter early Monday after failing to stop at a red light, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

At around 7:30 a.m., Julie Ann Gutierrez was driving anywhere from 66 to 71 mph in a 45-mph zone when she didn’t stop at a traffic light near Broadway and Ellsworth roads, according to a statement of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

The statement said Gutierrez hit 52-year-old scooter driver, John Wutt, as he was stopped at the light. Wutt was ejected from his scooter, his leg having been severed in the process, and he received a fatal head fracture, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Wutt was pronounced dead at the scene. Gutierrez was rushed to the hospital with multiple broken bones. Accident officials also found a number of drugs in her vehicle, according to the brief. Gutierrez is being held on suspicion of manslaughter, as well as possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and prescription drugs, sheriff’s officials said. Depending on the outcome of her blood test, sheriff’s investigators may recommend to the county attorney that she face second-degree murder charges.

Here’s the original news report of the crash:

Car-scooter crash in Mesa leaves 1 dead
Rebecca Smouse, The Republic | azcentral.com 3:35 p.m. MST August 2, 2014
A man was killed and a woman suffered life-threatening injuries after a car collided with a scooter in a Mesa intersection Saturday morning.

Around 7:40 a.m., a four-door sedan slammed into a scooter waiting at a red light on Broadway and Ellsworth roads, according to Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Christopher Hegstrom.

The driver of the vehicle, a 43-year-old female, was eastbound on Broadway Road when she failed to stop at a red light at the intersection, Hegstrom said. The sedan hit the scooter, which was idling in the median lane. After hitting the scooter, the car hit a pole and came to a stop, Hegstrom said. The driver was extricated and air-lifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The rider of the scooter, a 52-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.